American Legal Name Change – What’s in a Name?

Juliet:

“What’s in a name? That which we call a rose by any other name would smell as sweet.”

And so, in the 16th Century, Shakespeare famously wondered about what difference a name makes, really.

Well, according to millions and millions of people in 21st century America, our own names do make a great deal of difference. Our names mean A LOT to each of ourselves and to many people we share our lives with. Millions of immigrants commit time, energy and resources into getting a formal American Legal Name Change. That’s how important it is. Think about it a minute. Your name is probably your single most important identifier. It’s the very thing that brings “you” to mind when someone says it, reads it or thinks it. Your own Name IS a big deal.

American Legal Name Change

So, it’s no wonder that so many people change their name in today’s complicated and diverse social, cultural and financial conditions. Famous people, important people, ordinary people, and people you know do it. People do it legally and formally, and for lots and lots of different reasons. For marriage, for divorce, to bring families together or keep them apart, to leave an unpleasant past, to enter an exciting future, to formalize the name already being used, to turn the page, to enhance job or career prospects…to plant your own flag.

Many of our immigrant ancestors purposely “Americanized” their names when coming to this country. My grandfather’s whole family did it in a Detroit Court in 1914 when he was a young boy. Wave’s of other immigrants did it in other courts all over the United States then. Others, in large numbers, did it when they entered the country in the first place. In great waves of immigration to the United States, many other newcomers had American Legal Name Change done to them by processing clerks at Ellis Island.

American Legal Name Change enjoys a long tradition spanning our entire history

From before the United States was even a country, people have been taking New Names for their own future. In one average week this year, in just one small newspaper in one small city, there were 5 different Name Change Ads. None of those people were famous or otherwise noteworthy. It’s just that getting an American Legal Name Change, which is neither simple nor free, mattered that much to them. Each of those people were arranging to have the exact Legal Name they wanted for themselves or their child. They were shedding the one they were stuck with. One of the people was only changing a single letter. Another was changing every part of their name entirely.

These American Legal Name Changes, repeated daily throughout the United States, really underscore how important our names are … to us and to the people we go through our lives with. It’s an important part of who we are, right? So, it makes sense that many people can and do Change their Name to be the one they want to be.

At the end of this process, you get a Decree Changing Name, upon approval. A Certified Copy of your Decree Changing Name is the Gold Standard of Name Change Proof everywhere in the United States and all over the world.

When you finish this process successfully, you will leave with a Certified Copy(s) of your Decree Changing Name. You can go right from there to get ALL your important ID and records changed: Social Security, DMV, Passport, School, Banks, Birth Certificate, etc.

If your ID is different on some of your official documentation than on others, this will let you clear it all up. Unify your ID and records, exactly the way you want them, when you present your Certified Decree Changing Name.